“Huh?” I tore apart a muffin.
“You know. Fan-fiction. Those stories by fans about the musical. Anyway, so he read all the fan-fiction and asked the fans: what do you want to happen to the characters? You want Christine to die? You want Meg to become a whore? You want Raoul to be an ass**le, and Erik the Phantom to be even more angsty? Ok, I can do that, even though it’s totally out of character for everyone and makes no sense. Screw you, Gaston Leroux.”
I chuckled as I finished my muffin and took a bite of my cereal bar. She opened her mouth, about to say something else, when a funny look crossed her face and her eyes unfocused.
“What?” I asked, turning around immediately to make sure there was no menacing vampire standing over my shoulder.
When I turned back, Sarah had gone an awful shade of green. She swallowed hard and grabbed for a cup of water. A sip seemed to do nothing and suddenly she bolted for the nearest garbage can, barely making it before spewing the contents of her stomach into it.
“Ew,” I said, jumping up and going over to help her. There was a commotion in the cafeteria, as everyone turned to look, but I ignored them, pulling Sarah’s hair back as she wretched. “Hey, you ok? What’s the matter?”
Sarah straightened up eventually and I grabbed a bottle of water from the nearby stand and cracked it open and handed it to her. She took a few gulps, wiping her mouth and trying to get control of her breathing.
“You ok?” I asked again, and eventually she nodded, wiping her forehead.
“Whoa. That was weird.”
“Did you eat something bad?” I asked.
Sarah shrugged. “Who knows? I eat everything. Although I had the spinach lasagna for dinner last night and it seemed a bit weird.”
“You didn’t go on a drinking binge with Liam or Connor or something and not tell me, did you?”
“When?” she asked, amused. “After singing rehearsal that went till midnight, or before dance rehearsal that started at 6?”
“Yeah, I’m glad I’m not the lead,” I replied, taking her arm. “Maybe it’s just a bug. Come on, I’ll take you to the nurse.”
“Nah,” she said, although she let me lead her out of the cafeteria. “I think I’m just going to skip class and lie down for a bit. I feel weird.”
“You sure?” I asked. I was worried and didn’t want to leave her alone.
She nodded. “Yeah. It’s probably just a passing bug or something. How do I skip class? Do I just not show up?”
“Hmm,” I said, as we headed back to our dorms. “I think so. I was given a few days off last year, but the teachers knew. I just emailed them. I think you could do the same, and I could tell them when I get there.”
“It’s only two classes this morning,” she pointed out, as we reached her dorm room. “We’re supposed to work on our thesis this afternoon, remember?”
“Right.” I nodded, as she unlocked her door. “So I’ll just tell them. No big deal.”
“Cool. Thanks, Amy,” she said, and gave me a quick hug. “I’m sure I’ll be fine after a nap.”
“Yeah. Just text me if you need anything,” I said, and she nodded, closing her door.
I went back to the cafeteria to retrieve my bag, ignoring the stares of the other students. Between my scholarship, dating Liam, and filming Sites, I figured they had too many reasons to stare, and I wasn’t going to give them another one. I put our trays in the garbage and then headed to the west wing. Sarah wasn’t missing much in first period. Theater history was one of the few classes that I did not look forward to. It was interesting to learn how we got to the performance point that we did, but the professor who taught it, Professor Dolan, couldn’t have been on a stage in his life. He was a nice man, very kind and knowledgeable, but his voice was monotone and he spoke so slow that often I could come into class, put my bag down, say hi to Sarah, go to the bathroom and come back, and he’d still be on the same topic, probably the same sentence. On the upside, I always had time to write down everything that he said.
How you feeling? I texted Sarah under the desk, near the end of the class.
Fine. It’s weird, I feel perfect now. I’ll be coming to rehearsal she texted back. I smiled and texted a happy face.
When the bell rang, I stood up and gathered my notes.
“Amy?” It was Connor, who approached me right as I got out of class.
He was alone, which was different than usual. Normally, if I saw Connor anywhere but sneaking around with Sarah, he had Isabelle surgically attached to him. But today, he stood alone in the hallway, the masses of people separating around him like water over rocks.
“Yep?” I asked, getting a bit closer so that we could keep our voices low.
“I heard Sarah was ill this morning. Is she well now?”
I smiled. He may be having an affair with my best friend, but at least he was kind about it.
“Yep. She probably just ate something bad. Perks of being human.” I grinned at him.
He nodded, gesturing with his arm to indicate that we should walk. I fell in step beside him and he reached out his hand.
“Please, allow me,” he said, and took my bag off my shoulder before I could stop him. I had to remind myself that Connor was from a different time, when men did this kind of thing and women were not insulted by being referred to as the weaker sex.
“Where’s Isabelle?” I asked.
“She is attending dance rehearsal. She is quite enjoying being a dancer again, I think, and uses every spare moment to perform.”
“That’s good,” I said, as we rounded the corner and headed to the Red Theater.
“Forgive my intrusion, Amy, but you are also ill as well, are you not?”
“Me?” I asked, surprised, and then realized he wasn’t just referring to a stomach bug. “Oh, yes. But it’s managed, and doesn’t really bother me yet.”
“What is it, exactly?”
“HIV. It, uh… can lead to AIDS… It’s a blood infection that can be passed on through bodily fluids. My mother had it, shortly before she found out she was pregnant with me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, and he seemed truly sorry. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Sure,” I said dryly. “Turn me into a vampire and everything will be cured.”
He froze, holding the door open for me. “Have you discussed that with Liam? Your relationship seems quite serious.”